NancyJohnson

It's disappointing, but I'm not in the market for another Gibson. Money going elsewhere this year.

...or don't worry as it's been reported that there aren't any basses at all in the 2018 Gibson price list.

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1498484760' post='3324921'] Reading 1999 It always tickles me to see Coldplay's name down there at the very bottom of the list for the second stage. You'll also spot Muse in there, if you've got your magnifying glass available. S.P. [/quote] The company I worked for at the time did the wristtickets for the Mean Fiddler fronted Reading/Leeds festivals, so we always got freebies from them. That said, this was the only year I went. I had an operation on my left eyelid Friday night, couldn't get a contact lens on Saturday (no glasses, either!) but we made it along for Sunday. Proper bogs in the backstage area.

Monsters of Rock at Donington. Motley opening, Van Halen, AC/DC headlining. We were guests of Warner Brothers, all access...it was amazing being waved through security, under the track and parking behind the stage. Watched Motley Crue from the mixer tower, went round to the hospitality area right after and had a wee next to Mick Mars and chatted about the Roy Thomas Baker remix of Too Fast For Love. Got bitten on the arm by Tommy Lee, saw the OGWT filming. We watched Van Halen from the side if the stage. Beyond this is was a bit of a blur really. I do remember it all got a bit Wayne's World for a while.

I like Dave Grohl as a bloke and despite them falling into my chosen musical genre, I've never really made a connection with Foo Fighters. I own everything up to Wasting Light, but rarely listen to any of it. Same goes Weezer.

Ed Sheeran. Don't know any of his stuff, heard him interviewed previously, seems a nice enough bloke, so I thought I'd give him a punt. Lasted maybe less than 90 seconds and had an early night. Each to their own.

[quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1498474047' post='3324781'] I guess you're not overweight. Some folk struggle with weight and self respect because of it. Maybe your prejudices aren't helpful? Oh and I thought it was pretty damn awesome. Peter [/quote] Come on Peter, Mr Alpha did put a smiley after his post. Christ on a bike, I'm a bit tubby, but I had a chortle at it..

[quote name='crag42' timestamp='1498420376' post='3324500'] Oh no the bass player is slapping a solo!!!! Where's the MK haters? [/quote] Don't worry yourself, I'm here. My wife is watching the Nile Rogers set at the moment...while couldn't perticularly care less about Chic, the bass playing is exemplary.

Thanks for the heads up! The track up on You Tube sounds a bit Zappa-esque. I'm really not a fan of Mark King, so I did hit the play button with a degree of trepidation. The bass playing here is nice and phat, reasonably subdued and there doesn't seem to be any of that slappity-pop-pop-slappity nonsense going on; the lines as the track progresses remind me of Billy Sheehan for some reason. Elements of this track remind of Primus too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygZyuB21gMU

The ABY is by far and above the easiest way to split things into two. While this isn't a vanity thing, here's the floorboard I use for recording and the occasional live thing. The important stuff (tuner!) feeds into the ABY, which then splits into two channels, channel A routes the mild-dirt/cleanish whump (Sansamp BDDI) and the dirt is carried through channel B (choice from Boss ODB/Sansamp GT2/VT Bass DI). On channel B I tend to leave the VTBass +10db on as this makes the signal hotter into the poweramp. You can follow the signal path by following the cables. The beauty here is that I can run a pair of cables into a stereo power amp and into two independent enclosures, giving me control over both channels. The BDDI and the GT2 give me a dUg Pinnick type tone...it's quite mental.

[quote name='Hazy Bass' timestamp='1498159070' post='3322904'] The Fender ABY does exactly what you need for about £30 [/quote] This.

Now then, if I were running a music shop, I'd ask a few astute questions:[list] [*]What sort of music are you playing? [*]What's your budget? [*]Anything you don't like? (pointy, sunbursts, Fenders, etc.) [*]Active/passive? [*]Desired pickup configurations [/list] And so on. Your request is a little too open...

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1497629445' post='3319668'] Quick heads up.. This year's SE Bash will be at the school in Addlestone as per normal, and will be held on [b]Saturday 23rd September[/b]. Will do a brand new thread for it over the weekend. Nik [/quote] Wee and ack. I have a gig in Chatham that day. I'll be able to swing by for a bit to ding one of Gary's Spectors, get the winning raffle prize again and jump in my car for the off.

John Hall.

There's a few village halls near to me (Crowthorne) that would be ideal; most have staging areas that would be good for the clinics, plenty of parking. I'd be happy to enquire on pricing.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1497092092' post='3315792'] You can buy the chrome pickup covers and rings on the net. They're not that expensive (£10-15 or so, IIRC) [/quote] It's pretty well documented that the chrome pickup covers don't really fit over the pickups. You'll need to remove the black plastic outer casing (and risk damaging the inner workings) and/or make the body routs larger to accommodate. All in all, it's probably more feasible to purchase new units. Trust me.

Well, I've ordered it. Might be about five months. Need to sell some stuff (hint hint).

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1497027602' post='3315446'] [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Tech-21-Geddy-Lee-Signature-1u-RackMount-PreAmp/1UOM?origin=product-ads&utm_campaign=*PLA+Shop+-+All+Products&utm_medium=vertical_search&network=google&adgroup=**All+Products&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=86422d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=41477300408&gclid=CjwKEAjwjunJBRDzl6iCpoKS4G0SJACJAx-VmtM8OKOWGQjToTd-WyJ4Jd2fOh6Yx04tJX3kI6WWwhoC337w_wcB"]http://www.gear4musi...6WWwhoC337w_wcB[/url] [/quote] There might have to be a flash sale of a few surplus pieces of my Tech21 gear over the weekend...

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1497017586' post='3315345'] Yeah, but they're all stacked upside down. Don't know if I'd trust a factory that makes those kind of mistakes. [/quote] Australian market.

Hubba bubba. Tech21, I heart you. I heart you lots. Just make sure at least one of these is wired for 220/240v and makes its way over here. P

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1496934429' post='3314822'] If you're gonna go for one, I'd really recommend the TC spectracomp pedal. 1 knob and sounds great even in it's 'standard' / 'out of the box' setting.. [/quote] I never really got the [i]menage-a-quatre [/i]or gain/release/ratio/threshold...none of them seemed to do anything. I am a one knob kind of guy. Cough.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1496934964' post='3314830'] Out of interest, what do you regard as "recent" and "vintage"? Was there a point where Gibson changed their pickup specs in the T-bird? [/quote] Thunderbirds have been produced in three periods; vintage would best be applied to the 60s run (1963-69), the Bicentennial run (1976-79) and the current (or last) run (1987-2016). Bear in mind that the original Thunderbird pickups were units leftover from lapsteel production. The 70s pickups, I don't know, could be new or old...you wouldn't put it past a company like Gibson to uncover a box of old lapsteel pickups and produce a load of Bicentennial basses rather than throw them in a skip, but I just don't know. The last run dispensed with the chrome and went with plastic casings. The final production year saw the introduction of the EB series pickups.

[quote name='dyerseve' timestamp='1496912736' post='3314612'] couldnt you just reverse the pickup by extending the wires between the two halves (and probably the output wires as well) so no chisels would have to be involved? [/quote] Misinterpreted...I was looking to swap the pickup around (a la the Mark Hoppus signature bass). The 'bass side' E&A stays where it is, the 'treble side' D&G goes closer the to the neck, where in theory the different position gives the strings different tonal characteristics. [quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1496912052' post='3314601'] Don't know if you use effects, but it sounds like a bit of compression will go a long way to help you out with that... [/quote] I had a EH Black Finger compressor; a bit Emporer's New Clothes to me. May investigate a Boss BC-1X.